New leadership roles in Chemical and Process Engineering
The School of Chemical and Process Engineering has appointed three of its experienced staff to senior positions today.
Dr Jim Young has taken up the role of Deputy Head of School, Professor Bruce Hanson is the new Director of Student Education and Professor Sven Schroeder is the School’s new Director of Research and Innovation.
Dr Young will be working alongside the Head of School and is responsible primarily for the day-to-day running and management of the school such as space management, health and safety, budgetary control and more.
Coming from an applied spectroscopy and nuclear engineering background, Dr Young joined the University of Leeds in September 2003 to manage our relationship with the UK’s civil nuclear industry. Since then he has worked primarily within the nuclear group, helping to strengthen our links with Sellafield Ltd and the National Nuclear Laboratory. More recently he became School Director of Research from January 2012 until his recent appointment as Deputy Head.
Professor Schroeder has been appointed as Director of Research and Innovation (DRI) and will hold responsibility for providing direction and cohesion in the development of the School’s research and innovation strategy, ensuring synergy, prioritisation and sustainability. Sven came to Leeds in 2014 to take up the Royal Academy of Engineering Bragg Centenary Chair, which is supported by Infineum UK Ltd. He specialises in the use of X-rays for elucidating molecular structure in products and chemical processes. He also holds an honorary appointment at Diamond Light Source, the UK’s Synchrotron Radiation source located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. Sven brings more than 20 years’ experience in fundamental and applied cross-disciplinary research to his new role, and has previously held appointments in Cambridge, Berlin and Manchester.
Professor Schroeder said: ‘The School of Chemical and Process Engineering has a history of excellence in research and innovation. I am excited by the opportunity to work with my colleagues in the School in building on our strengths to maintain critical mass, international leadership and a strong cross-disciplinary outlook.’
Professor Hanson holds the University of Leeds’ Leadership Chair in Nuclear Process Engineering.
He is the Co-principal investigator on EPSRC’s PACFIC programme, leading the separation theme and a Co-investigator on EPSRC’s Distinctive programme, working on long term storage of nuclear fuel. Professor Hanson is also a Co-Director of the Nuclear Fission Next Generation Nuclear CDT and at Leeds is the programme director for the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering undergraduate course. Previous to his university appointment, Professor Hanson spent 25+ years in the nuclear and chemical industries, across a range of functions from plant operation to research, specialising in actinide separations and treatment of irradiated nuclear fuel.
